Optical encoders are widely used in instruments such as plotters to monitor the speed and shaft position of internal electric motors. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,731, issued to Mark G. Leonard on May 29, 1984, an optical encoder includes a light emitter, a code wheel attached to the motor shaft, a light detector and a controller. The detector converts the light modulated by the rotating code wheel into a signal that the controller can use to monitor shaft rotation.
For maximum encoder sensitivity the code wheel must be positioned accurately between the emitter and the detector to set precisely the emitter-to-code wheel gap (emitter gap) and the code wheel-to-detector gap (detector gap). This has been both difficult and costly to achieve in the prior art because of the necessarily manual assembly of the code wheel onto the motor shaft. For example, positioning of the code wheel of a Dynamic Research Corp. model 730 encoder requires the use of a removable spacer between the code wheel and the encoder housing to set the gaps. Such installation is time consuming and prone to error and may cause damage to the code wheel. In the BEI Motion Systems Co. model M15 encoder, the need for a gapping spacer is eliminated by tightly fitting the code wheel onto the shaft and using a gapping rod to push the code wheel to the desired axial position. Unfortunately, such code wheels can only be positioned under dynamic conditions, and because of their flexibility, positioning may be inaccurate and damage to the code wheel may occur.
In accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment of the present invention, a modular optical encoder includes a code wheel that is easily positioned without the need for gapping tools or dynamic conditions. The encoder includes a housing containing an emitter/detector module, a cover and a code wheel which is positioned between the emitter and the detector. The cover is rotatably mounted to the housing so that a cam on the cover may engage a follower on the housing to locate the cover at a predetermined axial position in the housing. During attachment of the motor to the encoder the motor shaft pushes the code wheel against the cover and thereby positions the code wheel axially on the motor shaft and sets the emitter and detector gaps. Once the code wheel is locked to the shaft the cover may be retracted to allow the code wheel to turn freely with the motor shaft. Tight manufacturing tolerances of the encoder components ensure that the gaps are accurate.